East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Executive director of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, a nonprofit organization that represents 700 residents living in communities connecting the Port of LA and East LA railyards
The Port of Los Angeles' Pollution Problem Ten years ago, the Port of Los Angeles signed a court-ordered agreement to reduce air pollution at a massive new terminal. Ships tied at the dock were supposed to turn off their diesel engines and plug in to onshore electricity. Trucks taking cargo up the Alameda Corridor were required to use natural gas. But Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told Port Director Geraldine Knatz to be "flexible," and she was -- with an important customer, China Shipping. The new rules were not put into effect. Last year, Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Gene Seroka the new port director, and he's in charge of setting things right.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?